All posts tagged "tsa"

TSA agents sell their blood for gas to get to work — where Trump isn't paying them

The financial situation among some Transportation Security Administration employees has become so dire that they are selling their blood to afford to get to work — where President Donald Trump has been forcing them to go unpaid during the ongoing government shutdown, according to a report.

The partial shutdown amid a Department of Homeland Security spending stalemate has entered its second month, and has pushed 50,000 TSA workers to continue working without paychecks, The Daily Beast reported. It's also the third time in the last year that the TSA employees have had to work without pay during a government shutdown.

Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told CBS Mornings during an interview on Wednesday that the situation has become very difficult for some workers.

“We have individuals sleeping in their cars, drawing blood to afford to pay for gas to get to work,” he said.

“Our people are hurting,” Stahl said.

He also told CBS News that there is a growing concern over the number of TSA employees calling out sick, saying that "there could be scenarios where we may have to shut down airports."

Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans have continued a standoff over DHS funding. Republicans have refused to accept demands from Democrats to secure the funding, including forcing federal immigration agents to obtain judicial warrants before entering private residences and a ban on masks following the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were killed by agents in Minneapolis.

Trump told TSA workers last week to continue working without their pay — and vowed he would backpay them.

“Keep fighting for the USA. GO TO WORK!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “I promise that I will never forget you!!!”

MAGA in frenzy as DHS shutdown leaves angry Americans stuck in airport chaos

Hours-long passport queues and hold-ups as a result of the government shutdown have left the GOP livid — and members are now trying to blame the Democratic Party.

The partial shutdown has seen an increase in wait times for travelers, with the official Homeland Security X account posting a video of hundreds of people queued up. They wrote, "SECURITY LINES OUT THE DOOR. Americans are now missing their flights because of the Democrats' shutdown of DHS.

"Their political stunt is forcing patriotic TSA officers to work without pay — leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages. Enough is enough: Democrats must fund DHS NOW."

Fellow Republican representatives also called on the Democratic Party to push the bill through the House and end the partial shutdown — despite the GOP holding a majority in both the House and the Senate.

Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the DHS, also backed the Homeland Security's statement when speaking to The Daily Beast. She said, "These political stunts force patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from serious threats, to work without pay.

"These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages."

The official TSA account has also thrown its support behind the Homeland Security post. They added, "Enough is enough. The Democrat shutdown of DHS must end!"

Republican Party rep Ken Calvert has also criticized the shutdown, adding, "As we get closer to the busy Spring Break travel season, airport delays for you and your family will only grow worse because Democrats refuse to join Republicans in funding our TSA agents."

Fellow GOP reps are up in arms about the shutdown too, with Louisiana rep Jeff Landry saying the Democrats "have no shame" in continuing the shutdown to win "political points". Ted Cruz, the GOP rep for Texas, added, "The Dem shutdown of DHS NEEDS TO END."

Democratic Party Congressman Troy A. Carter has since called on the GOP to work with reps to bring the shutdown to an end.

He wrote, "Republicans are refusing to negotiate to stop this shutdown because they don’t want to hold @DHSgov accountable for ICE agents MURDERING U.S. citizens.

"Our TSA workers at MSY deserve to be paid, and Republicans need to stop trying to rewrite the truth and work with Democrats to end this shutdown to make it happen."

Nancy Mace berates police and TSA during curse-laden airport meltdown: report

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) lost it and berated TSA agents during a meltdown at the Charleston International Airport on Thursday, according to reports.

Mace, who is running to be governor of South Carolina in 2026, "cursed at police officers, making repeated derogatory comments toward them, according to a Wired report published Friday after the organization issued a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a police report.

"The report says that a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) supervisor told officers that Mace had treated their staff similarly and that they would be reporting her to their superiors," WIRED reports.

Officers spoke with a TSA agent, who said “he was very upset with how she acted at the checkpoint.”

"This supervisor, according to the report, told the officers that Mace had 'talked to several TSA agents the same way' and that they would be 'submitting a report to his superiors about her unacceptable behavior.' TSA agents are not currently being fully paid, due to the ongoing government shutdown," Wired reports.

Charleston County Aviation Authority Police Department police officers were reportedly told that Mace would arrive at the airport in a white BMW at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, and that they would escort her from the airport entry.

"Around 6:35, the report says, they were told she was running late; they never saw the car arrive," according to Wired.

When she arrived, she did not arrive in a white BMW, but instead in a gray or silver vehicle at 6:51 a.m.

"During the escort, Rep. Mace was talking loudly using profanity at times for others to hear,” according to a police report obtained by The State. “It appeared she was either dictating a message into her phone or talking to someone about the situation.”

In another, separate memo written by Officer Aaron Reed to a police lieutenant, Reed says Mace was “loudly cursing and making derogatory comments to us and about the department.”

Mace has taken to X to complain about the lack of security upon her arrival, sharing a surveillance video.

"And for the FAKE NEWS: This is the entrance ALL Members of Congress use at the airport. Are you going to write that Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott use the same entrance or no? Asking for a friend @postandcourier," Mace wrote.

This Trump lackey's ridiculous promos actually point to the fall of American law

Airport managers need to wake up fast. With only a handful of exceptions, people running airports across America are risking serious fines and being barred from government work for up to five years by broadcasting political messaging on behalf of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Federal law — the Hatch Act — makes it a crime, punishable by fines and loss of current and future employment, to use government facilities or taxpayer money for partisan political purposes. Yet Noem, who has earned her national reputation as a puppy-killer and by cosplaying “tough cop” with her alleged boyfriend (they’re both married to other people), has pushed out a video to airports across the country blaming Democrats for the current shutdown.

This isn’t just a violation of federal law; it’s also a bald-faced lie.

Republicans today control the House, the Senate, the White House, and the Supreme Court. If Senate Majority Leader John Thune wanted to end the shutdown, he could do so this afternoon.

All it would take is the same maneuver Republicans have used repeatedly: a Senate rules change allowing passage of their Continuing Resolution to keep the government open, using only 50 votes plus the Vice President.

We’ve seen it before. Betsy DeVos only became Secretary of Education because Mike Pence broke a 50–50 tie in the Senate. Jeff Sessions squeaked through 52–47 as Attorney General. Rex Tillerson and Tom Price were confirmed with slim margins. And when it came to the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell killed the filibuster to ram through Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

Democrats, by contrast, failed when they tried to change the rules to pass the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights acts. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin sided with Republicans to preserve the filibuster, betraying the public interest.

So let’s be clear: this shutdown is not a matter of Senate procedure. Republicans have the power to end it today. They’re choosing not to because they want to strip health care from millions while protecting their $4 trillion tax cut for billionaires.

The 1939 Hatch Act, upheld by the Supreme Court in CSC v. Letter Carriers, outlaws the practice of federal officials converting government facilities into campaign machines. Its penalties are real: removal from service, debarment, suspensions, reprimands, and fines.

Some airport managers understand this, which is why several are refusing to air Noem’s message.

As of today, at least seven airports have declined to run the video at TSA checkpoints, citing policies and laws that prohibit political messaging in publicly funded facilities. Portland International Airport management informed the local ABC News affiliate:

“We believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits using public assets for political purposes and messaging.”

The Washington Post reports that Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, and Portland have all also said no, with at least two explicitly pointing to the Hatch Act as the reason.

By distributing this video, Noem has implicated not just herself but also airport managers nationwide, most of whom are now breaking federal law by broadcasting it. They face personal liability, including fines and disbarment from government work.

That they’ve gone along with Noem reflects how normalized lawbreaking has become in today’s Republican politics led by a 34-times-convicted felon and alleged rapist.

The lie about the shutdown itself compounds the crime. Citizens in a democracy must be able to trust their government to tell the truth about who is responsible for policy decisions and why they’re done. When those in power use public money to gaslight the public, accountability collapses. That is exactly why the Hatch Act exists.

There is precedent for enforcement of the Act even at the highest levels. The Office of Special Counsel recommended Kellyanne Conway be fired for repeated Hatch Act violations. Trump ignored it. He also ignored the law when his administration used the White House for the Republican National Convention and when he and Elon Musk went out front of it to hustle Teslas.

Republicans have apparently learned that if they break the law and face no consequences, the law effectively ceases to exist.

If Democrats are serious about defending both the rule of law and what’s left of America’s democracy, they must insist on prosecutions. That means removal from office for Noem, claims against the propagandists who produced and distributed the video, and charges against airport managers who continue broadcasting it. Anything less signals that the Hatch Act — and the rest of American law that could restrain Trump and his lickspittles — is a dead letter.

This is not a partisan point. Imagine if a Democratic administration produced a video blaming Republicans for a shutdown, then forced airports to broadcast it. Republicans would be demanding prosecutions, and rightly so. The law must apply equally or it means nothing at all.

Noem needs to stop lying. She needs to stop breaking the law. And Democrats need to stop pretending this is “politics as usual.” It is not. These are crimes designed to shift blame for a shutdown that is entirely the responsibility of the Republican Party, which could end it tomorrow with 51 votes in the Senate.

If there is no accountability now, America will slide further toward a future where propaganda is pumped through every government-owned screen and speaker. That is what has happened in Russia and Hungary, where public spaces are saturated with partisan messaging and independent voices silenced.

The Hatch Act was written to prevent that fate here. It must be enforced — with indictments, prosecutions, and disbarment — before it’s too late.

Matt Gaetz stopped by TSA at Dallas airport and found with taser: report

Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of Donald Trump's biggest elected supporters, was found to be carrying a taser when he was stopped by airport security in Dallas, Punch Bowl News reported on Friday.

An agent with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) made Gaetz throw the device away, according to the report.

The reporter said that Gaetz said he "forgot about the taser and had to throw it out."

"He said he thanked the TSA agent who found it and 'he gave me a fist bump and told me to secure the border,'" the report states.

ALSO READ: 'Donald may be suffering from memory issues': Nikki Haley responds to Trump's new attack

The report says when asked why he was carrying the device, he replied, "Because I can't afford to hire Cori Bush's husband," in reference to news reports that say Bush, a Democratic U.S. representative, is facing a Justice Department probe into her campaign's spending on security services that were provided by her husband.

The TSA is ramping up its use of biometrics for flyers. Here’s why that’s important.

The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.9 million people on Nov. 26, the highest number on record.

As the volume of passengers continues to rise, what will airport security checkpoints look like in 2035, when such high daily volumes are the norm?

To understand this future, one need only look at where the TSA is making substantial investments.

The TSA is ramping up biometrics, namely facial recognition, as a critical tool to keep the air system safe.

What happens if the government shuts down?

This article was originally published by The 19th. Sign up for The 19th's daily newsletter.

Congress has until October 1 to pass a spending package for the 2024 fiscal year or the federal government will shut down, triggering furloughs that could affect as many as a million federal workers and have economic impacts across the country.

When the Senate and House of Representatives returned to Washington earlier this month, their first order of business was to finish negotiating the 12 appropriations bills that will fund the government’s discretionary spending next year.

But negotiations have stalled due to efforts by some House Republicans to fund the government at lower levels than previously agreed upon, and their addition of off-topic riders to restrict abortion and gender-affirming care. To buy more time, congressional leaders are exploring what’s called a continuing resolution, or a CR, that would keep the government open for a short period of time — a week, a month — at or near current funding levels while they broker a long-term deal.

Here’s what happens if Congress hasn’t hammered out a deal by midnight on the last day of September and the government shuts down.

What is a government shutdown?

A shutdown means that all federal agencies must stop functions that are deemed “nonessential” until money is appropriated for the next fiscal year. Mandatory spending — money for programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — is not affected. Government functions deemed essential by individual agencies, along with the Office of Management and Budget, continue.

What government functions could shut down?

Every shutdown is different and there’s a lot we won’t know until it starts and federal agencies begin to furlough workers.

While shutdowns do not necessarily affect the benefits that Americans receive, such as SNAP, the food assistance program for low-income people that is administered by the Agriculture Department, a shutdown could impact how these benefits are distributed if it lasts beyond 30 days, according to the liberal-leaning Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonprofit group that analyzes budget policy. Likewise, Social Security and Medicare benefits would continue as normal for most people, but checks to new beneficiaries could be delayed. During the 1995-1996 shutdown, more than 10,000 Medicare applicants were temporarily turned away, according to the CRFB.

Past shutdowns have impacted national parks, which continued to admit visitors in some cases but stopped many services and closed buildings.

The White House said last week that a government shutdown would, among other things, result in active-duty military personnel and federal law enforcement officers working without pay until they are retroactively made whole after funds are appropriated; undermine clinical trials related to cancer and Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health; cause 10,000 children to lose access to the early-education program Head Start; force air traffic controllers and TSA agents to work without pay until the shutdown ended, potentially resulting in longer wait times and travel delays; and increase the risk that the Federal Emergency Management Fund will be depleted and complicate new emergency response efforts.

Tour groups walk through the rotunda of the Capitol. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)

Has the government shut down before?

There have been 21 government shutdowns of at least one day since 1977. Many of these were short — a single day, a weekend — and did not meaningfully impact government services.

The longest government shutdown was during the Trump administration in early 2019, which lasted a full 34 days, weeks longer than past shutdowns.

How will workers be affected?

As many as 4 million workers could be affected, labor unions told ABC News.

About 2.2 million civilian workers are employed by the federal government, many of whom would either work without pay until a shutdown ends or be furloughed. During the 2019 shutdown, about 800,000 federal workers were furloughed. Government contractors could likewise go without pay and may not be reimbursed. Active-duty military service members and law enforcement are deemed essential and would therefore continue working, but their pay would be delayed.

Regions with higher concentrations of federal workers would be disproportionately affected. There are about 370,000 federal workers in the Washington, D.C., area, for example. Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, pointing to the number of federal workers in her state who would be impacted, earlier this year introduced a bipartisan bill that would block members of Congress from being paid during government shutdowns.

A government shutdown has cascading effects. The economy in Washington, for example, is dependent on tourism. In 2019, the Smithsonian institutions shut down after they ran out of cash reserves, and the District of Columbia government estimated that the shutdown was costing the city as much as $12 million a week, mostly from lost sales tax revenue from restaurants, hotels and retail establishments. It also impacted food banks and other support services in Washington and elsewhere as they served an influx of furloughed workers trying to make ends meet.

The 19th is an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy.